I thought I'd got my dream flat - so did 23 others

I thought I'd got my dream flat - so did 23 others22 minutes agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleNicky FordLondon investigationsBBCMide Awosika and two flatmates paid a £12,000 deposit to rent a four-bedroom property in Poplar, east LondonLast summer, 20-year-old Mide Awosika thought she had secured her dream flat ahead of starting a new term at Queen Mary University in London.She and two flatmates together paid a £12,000 deposit to rent a four-bedroom property in Poplar, east London. But when they arrived on moving day, there were no keys – and they found nine other people also trying to move into the same flat.The property had been advertised on major rental websites Zoopla and OpenRent. After a viewing in July, Awosika said the letting agent, who identified himself as Derrick Fringe, told them there was stiff competition and they needed to pay immediately to secure it. She said they handed over three months' rent upfront, plus holding and security deposits.She told us that just before the scheduled August move-in date, Fringe told them the existing tenants had refused to leave and bailiffs were needed. Then contact stopped.When Awosika went to the building the following day, she realised the scale of the problem and described how group after group arrived, all expecting to collect keys for the same property.She decided to set up a WhatsApp group to keep track of and share information amongst those affected.Neither Fringe nor the landlord who owns the property responded to the BBC's questions.Since then, Awosika said, 23 people have contacted her claiming to have been targeted in the same way, all linked to the same flat and the same agent.Figures from Report Fraud indicated the cost of rental fraud was a growing issue with reported losses almost doubling in the past five years.In 2021, there were 4,642 rental fraud cases reported leaving those affected £7.2m out of pocket.In 2025, 4,178 cases were reported in England and Wales and Northern Irelan...